Mr. L Character Profile & Biography

Character fact sheet Name: Mr. L (ゲーム&ワッチノ・エル, Mīsutā Eru in Japanese; aka "The Green Thunder") First Appearance: Super Paper Mario (Wii, 2007) Home: Castle Bleck (under Count Bleck’s command) / brainwashed alter-ego of Luigi Voiced by: Charles Martinet (Luigi vocalizations, 2007), unannounced successor (2023–present) Associates: Count Bleck, Nastasia, O’Chunks, Mimi, Dimentio (under Castle Bleck’s service), Brobot (his mechanical mount)

General profile

Mr. L, known in Japan as Mīsutā Eru and styled in promotional materials as "The Green Thunder," is one of the most narratively unusual antagonists in the Mario series — he is, in fact, Luigi himself, brainwashed and reshaped by Count Bleck’s minion Nastasia into a black-and-green-costumed alter-ego with no memory of his true identity. Introduced in 2007’s Super Paper Mario for the Nintendo Wii, Mr. L appears as a recurring boss character whose true identity is a closely-guarded mid-game reveal. The character’s visual design is striking: he wears a sleek black bodysuit with golden "L" emblem on the chest, an elegant face-concealing black domino mask, gold buttons running down the front, and an aristocratic-villain swagger that’s a complete inversion of Luigi’s usual nervous mannerisms.

Mr. L’s defining gameplay role is as one of the four main antagonists serving Count Bleck across Super Paper Mario. Bleck’s coalition — Mr. L (the Green Thunder), O’Chunks (the brute), Mimi (the shape-shifter), and Dimentio (the jester) — serves as the game’s recurring boss roster, with each character fought multiple times across the game’s eight chapters. Mr. L’s boss fights feature him piloting the Brobot mecha — an enormous mechanical robot of his own construction — with multiple phases that reveal his combat capabilities. His unmasking and identity reveal late in the game is one of the most-discussed plot moments in Paper Mario series history.

The character’s narrative significance lies in his exploration of an "evil Luigi" archetype that the Mario series has typically only flirted with. Mr. L is a fully-realised villainous version of Luigi — not just a costume-swap or a Shadow Mario-style projection, but a genuinely brainwashed Luigi who has lost his memory and identity under Count Bleck’s magical influence. His eventual liberation from Count Bleck’s control and rejoining of his brother Mario’s side forms one of the most emotional plot beats in Super Paper Mario’s eight-chapter narrative.

Quotes

Enemies

Mr. L’s primary enemies are Mario and his Pixl companions in Super Paper Mario — Tippi, Thoreau, Boomer, Slim, Carrie, and the others. As one of Count Bleck’s four main lieutenants, he fights Mario’s party across multiple boss encounters throughout the eight-chapter campaign. The irony of his character is that he is, in fact, Mario’s brother Luigi — making their conflict a brainwashed-sibling confrontation that resolves only when Mr. L’s true identity is restored. He also fights against Princess Peach (when she joins the player’s party), Bowser (likewise), and the wider opposition coalition.

Friends

Mr. L’s closest associates during his villainous period are his fellow Castle Bleck operatives: Count Bleck (his commander), Nastasia (his creator-via-brainwashing), O’Chunks (the brute strongman), Mimi (the shape-shifter), and Dimentio (the jester). Their working relationship is strictly professional — they coordinate on Count Bleck’s elaborate schemes but do not have warm personal bonds. After his identity-restoration to Luigi, Mr. L rejoins his true friend group: Mario, Princess Peach, the Toad Brigade, and the wider Mushroom Kingdom heroic cast.

Appearances

Super Paper Mario (Wii, 2007)

Mr. L debuted in Super Paper Mario for the Nintendo Wii (April 2007, Japan; April 2007, North America), developed by Intelligent Systems. The game is the third Paper Mario series entry and the first to depart from the series’ traditional turn-based RPG combat for a real-time platformer-with-RPG-elements hybrid. Mr. L is introduced as one of Count Bleck’s four main lieutenants in the game’s recurring boss roster. The character was designed by Intelligent Systems’ art team led by Naohiko Aoyama.

Brobot and Brobot L-Type Boss Fights (2007)

Mr. L’s signature gameplay role is piloting the Brobot — an enormous mechanical robot of his own construction. The Brobot boss fight is one of the most distinctive encounters in Super Paper Mario, with Mr. L fighting from inside the mecha while Mario’s party must attack the robot’s exposed weak points. The fight has multiple phases as the Brobot transforms during combat. Later in the game, an upgraded "Brobot L-Type" mecha is unlocked for the climactic final encounters.

Identity Reveal (2007)

The mid-game reveal that Mr. L is actually Luigi — brainwashed by Nastasia’s mind-control magic — is one of the most-discussed plot moments in Paper Mario series history. The reveal occurs gradually throughout the game, with subtle hints in Mr. L’s mannerisms (his hat colour, his catchphrases, his fear of ghosts) suggesting Luigi’s identity before the full revelation. The character’s subsequent identity-recovery and rejoining of Mario’s side forms one of the most emotional plot beats in the game.

Brobot L-Type Final Encounters (2007)

The upgraded Brobot L-Type mecha appears in the late-game chapters of Super Paper Mario, with Mr. L piloting the more powerful machine in his final villainous appearances before his identity-restoration. The Brobot L-Type fights are among the most challenging boss encounters in the game and require careful resource management to overcome.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Trophy (2014)

Mr. L appears as a collectible trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (November 2014), confirming his canonical status within the broader Mario series Smash continuity. The trophy preserves his classic Super Paper Mario design and includes a brief lore description of his alter-ego status.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Spirit (2018)

Mr. L returns as a collectible Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Nintendo Switch (December 2018). His Spirit can be summoned in Spirit Battles with combat modifiers reflecting his Brobot piloting and Green Thunder identity. The Spirit’s inclusion further cemented Mr. L as a recognised Mario series character beyond the original 2007 game.

Cameos and References

Mr. L has been referenced in subsequent Paper Mario series entries including Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS, 2012), Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U, 2016), and Paper Mario: The Origami King (Switch, 2020) through subtle environmental Easter eggs. He has not made any major standalone appearances outside of the 2007 Super Paper Mario game. The 2024 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Switch remake includes a brief reference to Mr. L in optional dialogue.

Trivia & Official Sources

• Mr. L was designed by Intelligent Systems’ art team led by Naohiko Aoyama for Super Paper Mario (2007). The character’s sleek black-and-green costume was a deliberate creative inversion of Luigi’s standard green-and-blue overall design.
• The Japanese name Mīsutā Eru (ミースター・エル) is a direct transliteration of "Mister L." The single-letter "L" refers to Luigi’s true identity as the brainwashed alter-ego, a subtle hint that becomes obvious upon the mid-game reveal.
• Mr. L’s self-styled "Green Thunder" epithet is the only original alter-ego title given to any major Mario character in the Mario series. The title was deliberately chosen by Intelligent Systems to evoke superhero-villain-style branding.
• Charles Martinet provided Mr. L’s vocalizations in 2007 as part of his broader Luigi voice work — the character uses Luigi’s voice with slightly different intonation patterns to suggest the brainwashed identity. Martinet retired from Mario series voice work in 2023.
• The Pix’n Love Encyclopedia Super Mario Bros. (2018) describes Mr. L as "the brainwashed alter-ego of Luigi created by Nastasia under Count Bleck’s command, a major antagonist in Super Paper Mario."
• The Brobot mecha piloted by Mr. L is one of the few major mechs in the entire Mario series. The Brobot’s name is a portmanteau of "brother" (a reference to Luigi’s true identity) and "robot." The upgraded Brobot L-Type adds the "L" prefix referencing both Mr. L’s identity and Luigi’s true name.
• Mr. L’s mid-game identity reveal is one of the most-discussed plot moments in Paper Mario series history. The reveal’s subtle build-up — with hints scattered across multiple chapters — has been widely praised as one of the best-executed character mysteries in the Mario RPG canon.
• The character’s subsequent identity-restoration to Luigi and rejoining of Mario’s side forms one of the most emotional plot beats in Super Paper Mario. The reunion scene with Mario has been frequently cited by fans as a series highlight.
• Super Paper Mario (2007) sold approximately 4.3 million copies on the Wii, making it one of the best-selling Paper Mario series entries. Mr. L’s introduction in this game has made him one of the most-recognised Paper Mario-original characters in the Mario series broader canon.
• Mr. L is one of the few Mario series characters whose "true identity" differs from his playable form. The character is canonically Luigi — Mr. L is merely a brainwashed identity imposed on Luigi by Nastasia’s magic.
• The character’s 2014 inclusion as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 2018 inclusion as a Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate confirmed his canonical status within the broader Mario series Smash continuity.
• Mr. L has not appeared as a playable character or Mii Fighter costume in any Smash Bros. entry as of late 2025. The character is one of the most-requested Mario series "alter-ego" characters in Smash community fan polls.
• The character’s costume design — sleek black bodysuit with golden "L" emblem — is widely considered one of the most distinctive alternate-character designs in the Mario series. The costume has been preserved unchanged across all of his appearances since 2007.
• Nastasia, the character who brainwashed Luigi into Mr. L, is the only Mario series character with explicit mind-control magic abilities. Her use of mind-control to create Mr. L is a thematically distinctive plot element in the Paper Mario series.
• Mr. L has not been confirmed to appear in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April 2026) as of late 2025 pre-release marketing. The character’s film-adaptation status remains one of the open questions for Illumination’s Super Mario film series.
• The character’s identity as Luigi has been canonically maintained in all post-2007 Mario series materials. Subsequent Paper Mario entries have included brief references to Mr. L as part of Luigi’s backstory, treating the brainwashing incident as canonical Mario series lore.